A night like this
by CSIslave
Summary: Gabriella is feeling down who wants to be alone at christmas? But maybe she won't have to be... Ryella


my secret santa present for dwilivia. I am truly sorry that it's a trillion years late... hope it's worth the wait, and I hope you all had an AMAZING christmas/whatever you celebrate!!!

* * *

Gabriella sighed, leaning her forehead against the cool glass of the bus. Not only could she not drive yet, but also there was only a week left until Christmas and that was just a constant reminder that she had no one. However, it seemed like it was 100 degrees out. Smiling at the driver, she hopped off the bus. Walking into the first shop she came to, Gabriella was hit with a blast of air conditioning. She wandered aimlessly around the store, staring at the clothes and books. She'd already gotten most of her Christmas shopping done, but Troy had just called to invite her to a Christmas party with everyone that night. She knew why he had called last minute; he was probably debating whether or not to invite her. Everyone had known that Gabriella had had a crush on Troy while they were doing "Twinkle Town", but no one seemed to believe her when she told them she didn't anymore. Nothing really seemed right though.

"Shopping for Troy's Christmas party?" Asked a voice from behind her. Turning around, she saw Ryan's grinning face.

"Ryan! You scared me!" She laughed a little, glad to see a friend. "Yeah, you?"

"Nope, I already got my present for it. I can help you out, though." She smiled at him.

"I'd like that." Ryan grinned again, shaking his hair out of his bright blue eyes. Together, they wandered the aisles, laughing at some of the ridiculous clothes that they had for sale. Finally, Ryan held up something that caused Gabriella to blush with the images that it put in her head.

"What do you think?" He waggled his eyebrows at her, holding the silky red and green boxers up to himself, modeling them for Gabriella.

"Um… very…. _festive_," she managed. "Too big for you, though."

"Well, I dunno. I think these would be a great costume for a school play." Gabriella laughed, gently shoving his chest.

"Honestly, Ryan! Put those down!" He looked hurt.

"But where in world are we ever going to find such a tasteful Christmas present ever again??? I'm sure whoever picks it will enjoy them. Please buy them? Pllleeaaasseee??" Gabriella wasn't sure why her heart was pounding so fast at the way Ryan stuck his lower lip out and widened his eyes, but it made her give in. "Yes! You're amazing!" She grinned at the praise.

"Hey, you know what sounds good right now?"

"Hm?" Ryan looked up at her.

"Ice cream."

"You must be a mind reader," he smiled at her. "I'd love some."

Gabriella couldn't help but stare a little bit as Ryan's pink lips encircled the vanilla ice cream. Thoughtfully licking her own chocolate cone, she forced herself to look away.

"Something on your mind?" Ryan asked, looking at her as he bit into the cone.

"No, not really. Just… thinking."

"About what?"

"None of your business!" She teased, instinctively dipping her finger in her ice cream and wiping it on his nose.

"Miss Montez, I am highly offended by your gesture!" Ryan said with a gleam in his eye. "But I'm more mature than you and I'm above wiping chocolate ice cream on other people's faces. Vanilla is much more mature." Before she could react, Ryan had wiped what was left of his ice cream on her nose. They laughed, and then sat in comfortable silence for a little while, both staring off into space with the occasional glance at each other.

"I had fun, Ryan! Thanks for helping me pick… and the ice cream," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, no problem! Anyway… I have to go meet Sharpay for coffee. Honestly, as if we don't spend enough time together. But… I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah! Bye." Slightly disappointed, she watched him walk away.

* * *

The weather had cooled down a little bit, but it still wasn't exactly fun for Gabriella to walk to Troy's house later that night. She stared up at the stars as she clung to the box holding the boxer shorts. Suddenly, a drop of rain hit her nose.

"Oh, are you serious?" She moaned, helpless as the drops started falling down on her. She figured she was closer to Troy's than to her house, so she just kept walking. It wasn't long before her clothes were completely soaked. "Amazing. Thank you," she mumbled. She jumped as a car driving by honked at her. It slowed down and she immediately backed away. The passenger window rolled down and she grinned widely as she saw Ryan staring out at her.

"Gabby, you're soaked!!! Here, hop in."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She yelled, getting in the car and shutting the door quickly.

"Geez, look at you!" He rubbed her arm in an effort to warm her up, but all that did was warm her face as she blushed. "Here, let me take you back to your house so you can get changed, then I'll drive us both to the party, okay?"

"All right," she smiled at him.

"It's right here." Ryan pulled into her driveway.

"Nice," he said, admiring the house.

"Do you… want to come in while I get changed?" He stared at the ground for a second, thinking.

"Sure!" Her heart beating quickly, she stepped out of the car and ran to her doorstep with him. Turning her key in the lock, she shoved the door open. The house was dark.

"Mom?" She yelled, flipping on some lights as she walked through the house. "I guess she's not home anymore… anyway, make yourself at home. I won't be too long." She ran up the stairs, wringing her hair out on the carpet. Pushing her door open, Gabriella found that her heart was pounding very fast. Digging out a top she thought would look halfway decent on her, she pulled her shirt off over her head. Tugging the new shirt on quickly, she turned and stared at her door to make sure Ryan wouldn't walk in on her. Pulling on some pants and pulling her hair into a ponytail, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. _This will have to be good enough,_ she thought, looking at her tired eyes. Suddenly, she heard a noise outside her door. She opened it and saw Ryan standing there, looking sad.

"Ryan, are you okay?" Concerned, Gabriella took his hand and led him to sit down on her bed.

"Sorry, Gabby… just… you know. Alone at Christmas. Kind of gets to you. Especially when your stupid twin is dating someone and won't let anyone know." He yelled, blowing his hair out of his eyes in frustration.

"I know how you feel, Ryan. I mean, all I've done this holiday is shop and wish that there was someone to do it with, you know?" She took his hand in hers. "Don't worry. There are so many people out there who feel like us, you know?"

"They shouldn't have to," he whispered, stroking the top of her hand with this thumb. She couldn't look away from those eyes, and suddenly they found themselves in a sort of staring contest, gazing into each other's eyes. Out of the blue, Ryan pulled away, laughing awkwardly.

"We should probably get going."

"Ryan?"

"Yeah?" Her eyes found his once more.

"I don't want to be alone." Ryan searched her eyes. Slowly, he reached for her hand again. She smiled.

"Gabby…" he started to move closer, but turning bright red, he turned away. "We're gonna be late."

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." Trying not to cry, she followed him out of her room and they both left.

* * *

"Finally!" Troy opened the door, welcoming them in. Together, they stepped into the doorway. "Stop." Pointing up, Troy grinned wickedly as they noticed the mistletoe. Crossing his arms and chuckling to himself, he stared expectantly.

"Get someone else with that damn mistletoe?" Chad asked, walking in the room holding a soda in one hand and Taylor's hand in the other.

"Oh yeah. This is gonna be good." Taylor waved at Gabriella, laughing a little as she saw who she was with. Gabriella turned to Ryan, looking in his eyes.

"You don't have to," she muttered under her breath.

"What if I want to?" He smiled a little bit. Slowly, he brought his lips gently to hers. Gabriella closed her eyes, leaning slightly into the kiss. She felt Ryan's hand on the back of her head, and she wrapped hers around his neck, her mind soaring as Ryan deepened the kiss.

"Break it up!" Crashing back down to earth, she glared at Troy, who had dared to break up the best thing that had happened to her in a while. "You'll have time for that later! Geez, way to announce that you're dating!"

"Oh, we're not-" Ryan glanced over at her, and she couldn't finish what she was saying.

"Well, come on in." Troy acted as if that hadn't just happened and showed them around. "Just dump your present under the tree, we'll do the gift exchange later. We're just chilling in the kitchen right now." Ryan and Gabriella followed Troy into the kitchen, not really looking at each other. Sharpay was sipping on a Sprite, and she smiled at them as they walked in.

"Hey, Ry!!!" Gabriella couldn't help but notice that Sharpay looked happier than she had the last time she'd seen her.

"Hey, Shar." Gabriella looked down and found that her hand was in Ryan's, their fingers intertwined.

"We're basically done in here, right Troy?"

"Yeah… let's go do the gift exchange!" He held the door open for Sharpay, leaving Gabriella and Ryan alone in the kitchen.

"So, Ryan…" He stepped close, closing the space between them in one step. Slowly, cautiously, he brought his hand to her face, searching her eyes.

"Gabby… will you go out with me?" She laughed, shocked.

"Of course, Ryan." A huge grin covered his face. Gabriella gently touched his lips with hers, kissing him gently, yet with a passion she couldn't remember feeling before. Still smiling, Ryan took her hand in his and together they went into the living room. Chad and Taylor were cuddling on the couch, Troy and Sharpay sitting on the floor.

"Erm… is this everyone?" Ryan asked, noticing the obvious balance of boys and girls. Seeing as Chad and Taylor were obviously together and he and Gabriella had just become a couple, where did that leave Troy and Sharpay?

"Well, Kelsey and Jason called last minute to say they couldn't show… so yeah. Anyway… everyone brought something for the gift exchange, right?" Everyone nodded. Troy grinned wickedly. "Nice. Okay, so just pull out a name, and that's who you give your present to." He pulled out a box and passed it around the room, everyone pulling out a piece of paper. Gabriella blushed furiously as she pulled Ryan's name. _Wonderful… Ryan asks me out and the first present I give him is a pair of hideous boxer shorts._ Presents were tossed around the room, everyone laughing as they opened the assorted oddities that had managed to show up. Taylor grinned as a large stuffed dog appeared out of the box from Troy. Sharpay received a 20$ gift certificate to the same ice cream place Gabriella and Ryan had been at earlier from Taylor. Chad cynically looked at a book entitled "101 creative ways to kill your best friend: Jokes, Riddles and evil plans" that Ryan had bought. Ryan stopped laughing as he pulled the red and green boxers out of the box. Everything went silent as they stared at them. Then Ryan started laughing once more, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Are you serious?! Aw man, I'm so lucky! I would have killed for these!!!" Gabriella blushed again, looking at Chad and Taylor for their reactions. They were both grinning, laughing as Ryan pulled them on over his pants.

"Dude, where's Troy and Sharpay? They have to see this!!!"

"I think they went in the kitchen," Taylor said, glancing towards the kitchen door.

"Ryan, you have to go show them!!!" Chad laughed, kicking towards Ryan.

"All right, all right!" Pulling up the boxers, Ryan strutted towards the kitchen door, kicking it open.

Sharpay shrieked and jumped away from Troy, but not quickly enough; everyone had seen them intertwined, kissing each other. Silence once more fell over the room.

"Ryan… what the hell?" Troy panted, looking at him in shock.

"Erm… do you mean the boxers, or the me walking in on you making out with my sister?"

Troy laughed nervously.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Taylor asked, still sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"We didn't think you'd get it," Troy said, staring into space.

"Of course we would, man!" Chad said.

"No, you wouldn't!" Sharpay finally said. " All you ever do is talk about how 'obsessed' I am with Troy. But it's more than that. We love each other." She stared feverishly at everyone, trying not to cry. Everyone stared at everyone else. Suddenly, Gabriella stood up, walking towards Ryan.

"You two, don't worry about it. Look… I think you had the right idea there." Slowly, she kissed Ryan. Grinning wickedly, Chad followed suit and started kissing Taylor. Troy smiled sheepishly at what he had started, but it didn't stay on his face for long because soon the kitchen door was shut once more, and Sharpay was resting her head gently on his chest, both of them exhausted after the revealing of their relationship.

* * *

"Ryan… thank you so much for tonight," Gabriella sighed happily, staring at him and definitely not ready to go inside her house.

"I'm just happy that… you know. We're together." Leaning over, he kissed her softly for the millionth time that night. Slowly, she climbed out of the passengers seat.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Smiling, Ryan reached out and squeezed her hand one last time before driving away into the dark. Watching him go, Gabriella felt her heart soaring in a way that it hadn't before Ryan. Slowly, she walked into her house, shutting the door gently behind her. Before tonight, she hadn't really felt alive. And now the night was over; but her life was just beginning.


End file.
